These images show the disturbing moment that a murdered police officer pleaded for his life before being executed by masked gunmen who launched a deadly terrorist attack on an anti-Islamist newspaper in France.

A video from the scene of yesterday's massacre shows officer Ahmed Merabet - believed to be a Muslim - lying wounded on the pavement and begging for mercy before being shot at point-blank range by the terrorists.

As they approach, the 42-year-old is seen raising his hand in appeal for mercy, before the gunman asks: 'Do you want to kill us?' The policeman then answers: 'No, it's OK chief.' They then shoot him through the head with the assault rifle.

Target: After halting their car, the terrorists fire assault rifles at a policeman who tried to stop them, following the massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris

Helpless: The gunmen move in on the officer as Ahmed Merabet - who is believed to have been a Muslim - lies wounded on the pavement

Pleading: Mr Merabet, 42, who was married, raises his hand in an appeal for mercy as the terrorists approach him with their weapons

Callous: One of the terrorists fires at the officer at point-blank range. The attack took place yesterday and killed 12 people

Killing: Leaving the 42-year-old married officer to die, they run off, sparking a massive manhunt which was continuing last night

The gunmen then return to the car driven by an accomplice, sparking a massive manhunt which was continuing last night.

The shocking images were broadcast all over the world, depicting the sheer brutality of the horror that unfolded in the attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, in which 12 innocent people were killed.

Among the victims, the Al Qaeda assassins – identified as two brothers and an 18-year-old accomplice, all with Algerian links – shot dead two policemen.

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The massacre was condemned around the world as an assault on freedom of speech. The magazine, which mocks politicians and religions alike, was firebombed in 2011 after carrying a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed.

PHOTOS SHOWING SHOCKING MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER

These shocking images were broadcast all over the world yesterday. We appreciate they may distress some readers, but believe they must be published so the sheer brutality and horror of what happened may be fully understood. Out of respect for the murdered officer and his family, his face has been obscured.

Nine of its staff were killed in yesterday’s atrocity, including the editor and three cartoonists. It was France’s worst terror attack since 1961.

Opposition MP Jacques Myard said: ‘We are at war, the Western nations – like Britain, France and Germany.’

The hooded, heavily armed gunmen – described by police as operating like a commando unit – told witnesses they were from Al Qaeda and trained in Yemen.

Last night the Paris outrage was being seen as the ‘spectacular’ that Al Qaeda had been threatening since the dramatic rise of Islamic State replaced it as the most feared jihadi organisation.

The suspects were named as Said Kouachi, 34, his brother Cherif, 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18.

A police operation took place late lat night the north-eastern city of Reims, where Said lived.

Early this morning, a source close to the case said Mourad surrendered to police 'after seeing his name on social media' and was arrested at an undisclosed location.

Suspects: The three men were named as Cherif Kouachi (left), 32, his brother Said Kouachi (right), 34, and Hamyd Mourad, 18, of Gennevilliers

A raid by France’s elite anti-terrorist unit took place late yesterday in Reims as part of the hunt for the gunmen who attacked the newspaper

Either the suspects will be able to escape, or ‘there will be a showdown’, said a member of the unit, urging reporters at the scene to be ‘vigilant'

Dozens of members of the elite anti-terror unit were surrounding an apartment building. The Kouachi brothers hailed from the Paris suburb of Pantin, where Cherif still lived.

He was convicted in 2008 and jailed for three years for his association with a group sending jihadist fighters to Iraq. Hamyd is believed to have been living recently in Charleville-Mezieres, in the French Ardennes. All three men had Algerian origins.

The massacre at the second-floor offices of the magazine in the heart of the French capital appeared well planned with gunmen calling out names of journalists and cartoonists before shooting them.

Police union official Rocco Contento warned: ‘There is a possibility of other attacks and other sites are being secured.’

Faces of the victims: Among the journalists killed were (l to r) Charlie Hebdo's deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Stephane Charbonnier, who is also editor-in-chief, and Bernard Verlhac, also known as Tignous

Emergency: Police officers and firefighters gathered in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris after gunmen stormed the building

Critical: Firefighters carried an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo after the shooting

Targeted: A picture posted on Twitter reportedly showing bullets in one of the windows of the Charlie Hebdo offices

High alert: French soldiers patrol at the Eiffel Tower after the Charlie Hebdo shooting as the militants are hunted across the city

French soldiers disembark at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, as part of a deployment of soldiers to enhance security in Paris last night

Brandishing Kalashnikovs and a rocket propelled grenade launcher two gunmen burst in to the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo in Bastille just hours after it had tweeted a satirical cartoon of Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The gunmen appeared to know that an editorial conference of the magazine’s key staff was taking place and chose their targets by name, seemingly selecting them from among colleagues.

'WE SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP THE VALUES WE BELIEVE IN': DAVID CAMERON SAYS FREEDOM WILL BEAT TERRORISTS

David Cameron and Angela Merkel were given an extremely rare joint briefing by British intelligence chiefs on the terror threat last night.

MI5 chief Andrew Parker and MI6 boss Alex Younger told the two leaders the Paris attacks appeared to be of a ‘professional’ type not seen in Britain in recent years. The two leaders then made a call to Francois Hollande during which Mr Cameron offered the French president use of British spies to help track down the fanatics.

In a joint press conference in London, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor said terrorists must never be allowed to stop free speech. Mr Cameron said: ‘We should never give up the values we believe in and defend as part of our democracy and civilisation – believing in a free Press, in freedom of expression, in the right of people to write and say what they believe.

‘These are the things we are defending.’

Known by his pen name Charb, Mr Charbonnier, edited Charlie Hebdo, and had been the target of death threats. He was included in a 2013 Wanted Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam article published by Inspire, the terrorist propaganda magazine published by Al Qaeda.

A police bodyguard assigned to him after the magazine’s offices were attacked in 2011 was among the first to die yesterday, at around 11.30am local time. Others killed were named as Michel Renaud, a guest editor, and 73-year-old cartoonist Philippe Honoré.

Minutes earlier, cartoonist Corinne Rey had been forced to let the gunmen into the office block in the 11th arrondissement of Paris after returning from collecting her young daughter from a nursery.

Vigil: People gathered around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique in Paris in support of the victims after the terrorist attack

People gather in Toulouse last night to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack by gunmen on the offices of the satirical publication

Elsewhere: People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack on the offices of the satirical weekly

‘I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care, arriving in front of the magazine building, where two masked and armed men brutally threatened us,’ said Miss Rey, who draws under the name Coco. ‘They said they wanted to go up to the offices, so I tapped in the code,’ said Miss Rey, referring to the security system on the interphone.

Miss Rey and her daughter hid under a desk, from where they saw two cartoonists murdered. ‘They shot Wolinski and Cabu,’ she said. ‘It lasted five minutes.’ Miss Rey said the men ‘spoke French perfectly’ and ‘claimed they were ‘Al Qaeda terrorists’.

Calmly leaving behind a scene resembling a war zone with bullet-riddled windows, blood-stained floors and walls and the cries of the dying and wounded, the men ran on to the street outside – their exit and horrific murder that followed captured on a video taken from a nearby rooftop.

Witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting ‘We have avenged the Prophet Mohammed’, ‘God is Great’ in Arabic and boasting ‘We have killed Charlie Hebdo’. The gunmen made their escape stopping to kill Mr Merabet and then to hijack a car after their vehicle was damaged in a crash.

Appealing for national unity, President Hollande said: ‘We are threatened because we are a country of liberty.’

Charlie Hebdo’s website, which went offline during the attack, is showing the single image of ‘Je suis Charlie’ (I am Charlie) on a black banner, referring to a hashtag that is trending on Twitter in solidarity with the victims.